Rink users to lace up indoors as dressing rooms open at Co-operators Centre

Dressing rooms have reopened at the Co-operators Centre.

Up until this point, visitors heading to the rink have been lacing up their skates in the Evraz Place parking lot.

“As much as it’s been great to see the car festivities, it’s literally been tailgating for the last week,” said Tim Reid, president of Evraz Place.

Reid told the Greg Morgan Morning Show that more people will be inside the arena but staff will be monitoring capacity. As well, signs and barriers will be in place to maintain proper distancing.

With plenty of space and few options to fill it, the events complex will also be hosting children’s day camps for the first time ever.

They will run from August 10 to 28 for kids aged six to 12.

Activities will include sports along with leadership and team building exercises.

Reid said the events business is being forced to change.

He pointed to the drive-in concerts that country singer Brett Kissel played at Evraz Place as a way to provide live entertainment while mass gatherings are still prohibited during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“He produced a high-quality production that went out on YouTube and made it available to everybody,” Reid said. “We are seeing this concept of this parking lot tailgate concerts show up everywhere, globally. It is influencing our industry quite a bit.”

Even once concerts are permitted again, there would likely be requirements for sanitation.

Reid said the frequency of cleaning dressing rooms has been costly enough. Now, imagine doing it for a concert venue.

“It becomes very cost-prohibitive at a break-even business like an arena to open things up,” he said.

“When you look at a concert and how many people participate, the cleaning practices are just overwhelming and they become almost impossible to maintain when you’re talking about tens or hundreds of thousands of people.”